Mayo Artists come to Kerry

Samhlaiocht, the leading Arts Organization in Kerry, continues its long tradition of bringing the very best and brightest national artists to the Kingdom with a wonderful new exhibition which opens on Thursday, September 3rd at 7:00 pm. The exhibition will feature work from Ian Wieczorek and Niall McCormack.

"There is a strong connection between Niall and Ian's work," says Trish Thompson, Gallery Coordinator, Samhlaiocht. "The diversity and vibrancy of their work quite literally leaps from the walls and we’re looking forward to what will be a very special exhibition."

The Samhlaíocht Gallery attracts the best and brightest up and coming artists from Kerry and beyond but also attracts more established artists looking for an additional outlet for their work and Ian and Niall fall very heavily into the second category. Both are accomplished artists and quite successful in their own right.

"My painting practice makes use of the visual language of architecture as a mediator for artistic vision, both as a universal truth and a metaphor for spirituality and personal mediation," said Niall McCormack, who is living and working as an artist in Westport, County Mayo. "I'm also interested in considerations of form and composition, colour harmonies and nuances of light and shade. They've become a vocabulary through which I can develop ideas and realise my intentions."

Niall's buildings and architectural environments depict and address ideals of ambience and spiritual presence. Exteriors and interiors are cleverly used and there is a wonderful interplay between them. Niall uses windows as focus points and to visually enhance the psychological content of the works.

"I am particularly interested in how people are influenced and affected by these architectural forms in both urban and rural environments," says Niall. "I was deeply affected by the monastic environment in which I found myself placed. It made a rich mystical impact on my life and, intermingled with the feelings of silence and austerity, was, at that time, integral to my identity and my particular way of seeing things."

Ian Wieczorek works to represent and investigate the physicality of the human condition. "My inquiry explores issues concerning the base fabric and material essence of what we are, offering insights into the human condition and how we relate to the world as individuals, society and species," says Ian. "On a theoretical level, the work is informed by George Bataille’s concept of Base Materialism, that Hegelian transcendence as a vertical axis denies the influence of a horizontal axis represented by our very physicality and Julia Kristeva’s theory of abjection, which acknowledges the acceptance of the physical condition as a vehicle of mediation."

Ian was born in England but has lived and worked in Castlebar, Co. Mayo, since 1992. His art practice is based primarily in painting and drawing, thematically exploring the physicality of the human condition, the confluence between biological and inorganic dynamic systems, and notions of context and essence.

The public will have an extra opportunity to interact with the artists as a special night-time showing of Niall and Ian’s work will take place at the Samhlaíocht Gallery on Friday, September 25th, when the Samhlaiocht Gallery will be open until 11pm as part of Culture Night Tralee.

The exhibition opens on Thursday, September 3rd, in the Samhlaiocht Gallery, in the Old Presbytery, on Lower Castle Street, in the heart of Tralee and runs right through until Friday, September 25th, Culture Night.

Opening times at the Gallery are from 9.00am to 5.00pm from Monday to Friday, with a special late night opening for culture night on the 25th September till 11pm at night.

The gallery is open to everyone and is free to visit.

Samhlaiocht is supported through grant aid from The Arts Council, Kerry County Council, Fáilte Ireland and generous corporate sponsorship from Kerry Group.

Celebrate Heritage Week with new Exhibition

Next week sees the launch of Ireland's Heritage Week, which runs from the 22nd to the 30th of August, and to celebrate Samhlaiocht, the leading Arts Organisation in Kerry, is holding a special week-long exhibition featuring work from Christa Vonhof and Donal Stack.

Heritage week is designed to appeal to almost everyone and the main aim is to build awareness of Ireland's built, natural and cultural heritage thereby encouraging its conservation and preservation. In Ireland Heritage Week is co-ordinated by the Heritage Council with support from the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government and Fáilte Ireland.

"Every year hundreds of national and local community organisations take part in Heritage week, organising events throughout the country to help build awareness of Ireland's beautiful and unique cultural heritage," said Trish Thompson, Samhlaiocht Gallery Coordinator. "We're delighted to play a small part and would encourage people to come and see this wonderful exhibition which features work from Christa Vonhof and Donal Stack. The exhibition pays respect to Ireland’s amazing cultural heritage through Christa Vonhof's wonderfully eclectic letter boxes and Donal Stack's pictorial maps."

Donal Stack is an artist that lives and works in North Kerry. After graduating from the Crawford Municipal College of Art, Donal went on to teach art at secondary level and at adult night classes for a period of five years.

"I've always had an interest in illustration and decided to pursue if for this exhibition," said Donal. "The work is a series of limited edition giclee prints of illustrated pictorial maps."

The maps are simply stunning and the level of work involved in creating them is mind-boggling. As Donal explains, "These maps are influenced by 16th and 17th Century pictorial maps showing the topography of the landscape and include text, icons and depictions of towns and other landmarks."

All the maps are pictorial maps of Kerry and the Giclee process which Donal used ensures a high quality reproduction on fine art acid-free paper. The original work was done in watercolour and each print is signed and numbered by the artist.

While Donal's maps are inspired by Kerry, Christa Vonhof, who grew up in Bavaria, has been similarily inspired by the county. She always loved painting and drawing.

"Art classes were always my favourite in school," says Christa, "and I continued to paint through my early adulthood." After raising her family and moving to Ireland, Christa became a member of an art group in which she is still active and exhibits regularly.

In addition to painting, Christa is interested in local history and archaeology and quite often combines these two interests.

"One day I was walking in the countryside and I saw this quaint box hanging off a telegraph pole. It was in the middle of nowhere and it sparked an interest," explains Christa. "Every now and then I would come across another post box and the most amazing array of different letter boxes appeared with different shapes, sizes and patterns and I decided to capture and record them."

"The work on the exhibit is by no means a complete collection," laughs Christa, "I fully expect to find many more to record. My hope is to continue finding and recording them in my drawings for years to come!"

The exhibition in Samhlaiocht is a perfect opportunity to see something a little different.

The exhibition opens on Thursday, August 20th and runs for one week until Friday, August 28th in the New Samhlaiocht Gallery which is located in the Old Presbytery on Lower Castle Street in the heart of Tralee. The Gallery is open from 10 am to 5 pm, Monday to Friday, is free to visit and all are welcome.

Samhlaiocht is supported through grant aid from The Arts Council, Kerry County Council, Failte Ireland and by the generous corporate sponsorship of Kerry Group.